How to Keep the Sabbath Day Holy – EGP Blog post from November 10, 2012

Romans 14:5–6 (NASB)

^[5] One person regards^§ one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. ^[6] He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does^§ so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.

Romans 14:5 Lit judges
Romans 14:6 Lit eats

I think it is a matter of personal conscience …, but that doesn’t mean that it has no meaning and no biblical guidelines. …

It appears in Romans 14 that there was a disagreement in the church. One celebrates one day and one counts all days alike. … Paul’s way of handling the disagreement was not to side with either one. … He said that one man keeps it to the Lord, another is free to the Lord, and let both honor the Lord. Now, that’s very significant, because I think that the people that give no thought to the Lord’s Day and don’t do anything to make it special are probably not making those decisions “to the Lord.” By and large they seem careless, not thoughtful in what they’re doing. …

I think that the principle in the New Testament is that God ordains that one day in seven be restful. That’s a creation ordinance for our good, for our health. And so, one of the things we should do is do things on the Lord’s Day that refresh us for the His service, both intellectually, spiritually, and physically. So, if you sit at your desk all week, you should probably walk or ride a bike … If you work in the farm, breaking your back all week, which is what they did in the Old Testament, then sit down and take a LONG nap …

The holy piece I think would be worship … set aside a day when a significant focus is on corporate worship. I think that’s implicit in the way the New Testament talks about the gathering of God’s people … Secondly, I would I think you would want to restrain certain secular involvements in such a way that you say something’s special about this day. It’s different from the other days because Christ is Lord and risen in a way I want to speak about in a unique way today. But I really don’t want to lay down rules for what that would be. …

You need the rest one day a week and you need to find a way to say to the Lord, “I love You, and I reverence You, and I honor You” in a special way.